Was I imagining things, or did the WBEZ announcers sound cheerier than usual during the membership drive that ended last week? Maybe it was the fact this spring’s drive was reduced to just five days on the air—after days of hints to listeners to go online to make their pledges. Maybe it was the campaign’s success: the revenues it raised—$1 million—soared 33 percent above the 2016 spring total, and that drive was considered a good one.
Stephenson thinks the success of the spring drive reflects that threat. She can’t say to what degree because, she explains, the membership rolls were swelling long before Trump—up to 83,300 as of last December, a 22 percent rise in two years. What’s more, 70 percent of WBEZ’s donations from listeners are now made online, which means far fewer phone bank volunteers getting an earful from the public about whatever outrages are fueling its generosity. But Stephenson’s pretty confident.
But it wasn’t as if the audience didn’t know.
